On a blustery and wet afternoon at the REMPF London Cornish recorded back-to-back victories against a struggling Hove side. The win, that included 13 tries, lifts Cornish to 8th place in the league.

Cornish were able to field a similar team to the one that they did in their victory away at Chobham last week. The only changes were James Snape returning in the back row and Chris Anstey coming on to the bench for the unavailable Matt Chambers.

On a damp day the kick off time was moved to 14:00 to accommodate the fading light, Cornish were playing up the slight slope in the first half. From the kick off it was the home side that started the brighter thanks to some strong carries through Dan Leo and George Shirlaw. After around 5 minutes the visitors defence finally broke as the ball was spun out to Chris Smart to score. Shortly followed Dan Phoenix crossing the line thanks to a lovely reverse ball from Rich Stephens to put Phoenix through the gap. Cornish then seemed to go flat for the rest of the half as they took their foot off the peddle. It was then Jamie Owen who sparked life into the home team thanks to a mazy run and excellent offload to send Phoenix clear for his second. Hakes rounded off the half with a typical Hakes like finish to dot down in the left corner to finish off some great midfield play by Kimmins and Vaughan. 24-0 half time.

As the second half kicked off it was clear that Cornish wanted to increase the intensity to put the game to bed. They started quickly, executing the basics well, playing their way down the field very effectively. It was Shirlaw who scored next (pictured), showing form reminiscent of his BUCS days at Exeter University, he stepped his way through the line to step the full back and dot down for his skipper to convert. Vaughan was next to get in on the act as Kimmins opened up the (another) hole for him to break and feed Hakes who simply gave the ball back inside for Vaughan to slide in and score. It was then the home captain who scored next, ignoring a 7-man overlap to step and score himself (much to his teams annoyance out wide!). Fresh after his new haircut in the week, Harry Somers scored next. Weighing 3kg lighter he took the ball from Skerritt who had fielded the kick and broke blind, before Somers finally barged over. Cornish were now really turning through the gears, and every time they went forward they seemed to come away with a try. Jake Slade, continuing his recent good form, made a good break down field, before the ball was spun wide for Jamie Owen to carve though and take the ball into the visitors 22. All Cornish then had to do was move it wide, and it was James Snape lurking in the wide channel to finish off a great team try. With the whole bench on and Cornish tales up, the signs were ominous for Hove as Cornish finished the last 5 minutes with 3 tries through Hakes for his hattrick and a Rich Stephens brace. Kimmins managed to convert 9 of the 13 tries in tricky kicking conditions to round off what was a resounding home win for the black and gold.

In what was a tough day out for Hove they deserve credit in sticking at it throughout the whole game and getting themselves on the scoresheet for 2 very well taken tries. They played with good intent when they had the ball, however it was clear to see that this team must have had many players missing and are low on confidence. When they get a few players back from injury I am sure they could push teams closer than what they did today. For Cornish it was a great confidence booster, but they will know more than anybody that tougher tests await either side of the Festive break.